2010. Since therefore the “name” signifies the quality and to know what the quality is, we can see what is signified by the words in this verse, “thy name shall no more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham;” to wit, that he was not to be such in quality as in the past, but such as he was about to be. That Abram served other gods, and worshiped the god Shaddai, was shown above (n. 1992); but because he was to represent the Lord, and in fact His internal man, and thus the Celestial of His Love, his former quality was to be blotted out, that is, the name “Abram” was to be so changed in character that the Lord could be represented by it. Therefore the letter H was taken from the name of Jehovah-which letter is the only one in the name “Jehovah” that involves the Divine, and which signifies I AM or BEING (Esse)—and was inserted in his name, and he was called “Abraham.” The case is similar with “Sarai,” spoken of in what follows; to whose name the same letter was also added, and she was called “Sarah.” From this also we can see that in the internal sense of the Word Abraham represents Jehovah or the Lord.

[2] Be it known however that in representations it matters not what a man’s quality is, for in them no attention is paid to the person, but to the thing which he represents (as was said and shown before, n. 665, 1097 the end, 1361). Therefore in the internal sense the signification of these words is that the Lord will put off the human, and will put on the Divine; which also is in a series with what goes before, and likewise with what follows; for a promise is now made concerning the son Isaac, by whom was to be represented the Lord’s Divine rational.

665. That to “set up a covenant” signifies that he would be regenerated, is very evident from the fact that there can be no covenant between the Lord and man other than conjunction by love and faith, and therefore a “covenant” signifies conjunction. For it is the heavenly marriage that is the veriest covenant; and the heavenly marriage, or conjunction, does not exist except with those who are being regenerated; so that in the widest sense regeneration itself is signified by a “covenant.” The Lord enters into a covenant with man when He regenerates him; and therefore among the ancients a covenant represented nothing else. Nothing can be gathered from the sense of the letter but that the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so many times with their descendants, was concerned with them personally, whereas they were such that they could not be regenerated; for they made worship consist in external things, and supposed the externals of worship to be holy, without internal things being adjoined to them. And therefore the covenants made with them were only representatives of regeneration. It was the same with their rites, and with Abraham himself, and with Isaac, and Jacob, who represented the things of love and faith. Likewise the high priests and priests, whatever their character, even those that were wicked, could represent the heavenly and most holy priesthood. In representatives the person is not regarded, but the thing that is represented. Thus all the kings of Israel and of Judah, even the worst, represented the royalty of the Lord; and even Pharaoh too, who set Joseph over the land of Egypt. From these and many other considerations-concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter-it is evident that the covenants so often entered into with the sons of Jacob were only religious rites that were representative.